My recollections of this show are the howling wind, the sparse crowd, and when someone threw a Frisbee up onstage, our bass player Mike caught it and flicked it back out into the "crowd" without missing a single note! Talented guy, he is. If the weather hadn't been so downright brutal, I'm sure the crowd would've been considerably larger. It got to the point where it was so windy my cymbals kept tipping back onto my drums, and the weather was a major distraction to me. So...the actual show part of the trip is the less pleasant memory to me. The hotel that night, however, was a whole different ballgame. Lots of laughter, the Bruins on the tube, and everyone just having a great time, that's what I'll always remember about this gig. Can't win 'em all, I guess!

The thing that sticks out in my mind the most was that my fingers were so cold and numb that I not only couldn't feel the steel strings on the fretboard, but could feel the bones in my fingertips striking the notes. (There's a Grateful Dead visual for you). Although I have to say after listening, we did okay with the short set of tunes despite the cold and the tuning issues that arose from it.
I really like the "Playin' > Shakedown". Some really good jams. And the "Eyes of the World" is pretty sweet even with frozen digits.
I remember that there weren't that many students present for this festival. I was mildly disappointed in that. I had expected a much bigger turnout. As we weren't the only band there and relatively unknown in the state of Maine, I was hoping the other bands would have attracted more listeners. Perhaps the weather was a factor in that as well.
But the roadtrip was fun, especially in the hotel afterwards. We all hung out, watched TV, partied and joked around. This is what started the infamous phrase; "You need?" that still gets a laugh today (sorry inside joke).

First, full disclosure about the tape: the first song fades in already 2 minutes in progress, and the mix settles in more or less at the beginning of "Playin'". There are a few edits due to recording problems. But this is not a bad show. It's also a curiosity.

This was the band's first overnight road trip in a couple of years (we all work 9 to 5 and had other commitments making touring difficult - nay, impossible). We were more than happy to go play a college in Maine though. The road trip also included a gig the Friday night before at The Claddagh Pub. We played till 2, found a hotel around 5, slept a couple hours and got up and finished the trip to Waterville.

The gig took place outdoors on a high stage after all direct sunlight was gone, on a mountain on an unseasonably cool day in Maine, with the wind howling up the mountain right into our faces, hard enough that sometimes you had to struggle to keep from getting blown backwards. We were the last band in a 5 band program. We watched the other guys play while watching conditions get more and more unfavorable. The guitars kept going out of tune, right from the first song. You can hear the wind howl through the mikes, and the recording gear had multiple sonic failures that I attribute to the weather that day. The meadow in front of us was only somewhat populated; most of the audience took refuge in the building that was immediately to our left, standing in doorways or second floor patios and listening from indoors or near indoors wherever they could. Most of the group had on winter hats and even gloves at times (not John, who chided the band for giving in to those indulgences). Through it all, we ended up playing a pretty good show. We just had a great time and put our heads down and rocked out, weather be damned. Some of the commentary is funny, too.

Highlights include Playin', Easy Wind and Here Comes Sunshine - but the whole thing overall pretty nice.

1 star taken away for the fade-in, the edits due to recording failure, and some minor digital artifacts. But, not a bad show.